Arizona beer distributor dumps thousands of kegs due to low demand during pandemic

At Crescent Crown Distributing, they are having to empty thousands and thousands of kegs because that beer is now spoiling.

SURPRISE, Ariz. - At Crescent Crown Distributing, they are having to empty thousands and thousands of kegs because that beer is now spoiling.

All because big venues and restaurants aren’t open due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Joe Cotroneo, general manager at Crescent Crown Distributing, says they were at their peak inventory for kegs when all of this hit in March.

Think spring training, many tourists and plenty more visiting the valley but because many of those events were cancelled, that beer wasn’t used.

So now, it's spoiling and they say they will have to throw away at least 20,000 kegs and expect more after that.

On top of that, usually their drivers pick up empty kegs and now they are picking up full ones of spoiling beer.

Cotroneo says they are doing only 3% to 4% of what they usually do on that front.

"We picked up just under a million dollars already in beer that we will need to destroy and unfortunately there is an amount equal to that depending on when we can open again," Cotroneo said.

The good news is they say the grocery and liquor stores have increased their need for the products so that is helping them make up for the kegs lost.

In a Wednesday news conference, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey says resturants can begin opening at a partial capacity in May, which will spark demand for beer once again.

Bars and pubs will be reopened at a later date, the governor said.